Metamorphosis
by Inexhaustible Source of Magic
Summary: When Zuko gets sick and his Uncle tells him he's going through a metamorphosis he means it literally. When Zuko turns into a bird kid he goes to live with Max.
1. The wings

**Zuko's point of view**

I felt the horrible fever overwhelm me. My head was fuzzy and my vision was fogged. I swallowed hard and fell onto the floor, knocking over a vase. "Zuko," Uncle Iroh yelled and ran over to me.

He carried me over to my bed. I shook with fever and illness. I'm not sure how long I was sick. It felt like years. I woke up and then slipped back under. It was horrible. I couldn't focus on anything. I just slept, and then every time I woke I was drenched in sweat.

"You should know this is not a natural sickness," Uncle told me, pulling me up and handing me a cup, "But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying tea."

"Wh-whats happening," I asked him, drinking the cup. Suddenly I started coughing. My throat burned from heat and coughing. _Why am I so sick,_ I thought.

"Your critical decision, what you did beneath the lake," Uncle told me, "It was in such conflict with your image of yourself that you are now at war with your own mind and body."

"What's that mean," I asked. A sudden wave of fever fell over me and I lay back on my bed, hot and heavy with sickness.

"You are going through a metamorphosis my nephew," Iroh told me, dabbing my face with a cloth; "it will not be a pleasant experience." _Great, _I thought. "But when you come out of it you will be the beautiful prince you were always meant to be."

I couldn't help but doubt that. It was horrible. I'm not sure how long I stayed sick. It felt like years and years. Uncle took great care of me, serving me tea, feeding me, keeping my fever down.

Uncle told me I'd been sick for three weeks when it happened. It was in the middle of the night. My fever had been going down and I was staying awake longer and longer. However it must've not have been for good, because in the middle of the night my back exploded. I screamed and curled up in pain. It was excruciating. I screamed and begged it to stop. It felt like someone was stabbing my back, from the inside out. I couldn't feel Uncle caring to me, although I had no doubt he was. He was probably out of his mind with worry. This didn't help my pain.

The stabbings continued, but it seemed different. I seemed to know it was happening and live with it. I opened my eyes slightly and found a wall, scorched and burning. Small flames were spouting out of my hands and I guessed when the first explosion happened, my flames had gone crazy and caught fire to the wall. Iroh was, at the moment, pouring water on it.

The different feeling began to fade and I was overwhelmed by the pain again. I screamed and shook and flamed and ached. Tears fell down my face, a never ending stream of pain and unbearable turmoil.

All of sudden, I felt the pain become white hot, burning deep, deep inside. I then began to slow. My mind, body, heart and soul were slowly shutting down. My shaking stopped and my body went still. All I could hear or see or feel was the inconstant beating of my heart and Uncle Iroh's voice slowly fading while calling, "Zuko, zuko! Please, don't…die…"

I woke up, surprised. I was amazed I was alive. I was in a small cave. _Not again, _I thought, thinking we were on the run again. Uncle was nowhere to be seen, though the tea was almost done so I doubted he was far. I slowly sat up, my head and back protesting. "Uncle Iroh," I called. All of a sudden, he came bursting in from outside.

"Zuko!" He cried and ran over to me. However he didn't hug me, like he normally would. He just stared at me, a look of amazement, fear, and, wonderment passing over his face.

"Uncle Iroh, what's wrong?" I asked. He walked around me and gasped when he reached my back. "Uncle, what is it!" I asked forcefully.

"They're done, they've been developed," he nearly whispered.

I knit my eyebrows in confusion, and then I felt them. Two long, wide objects protruded out of my back, connecting at my spine. They felt like folded papers, and I complete control of them. I slowly unfolded them and gasped. Protruding out of my back were long, dark, black and auburn streaked, 15 feet long, at least. They were beautiful, the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. And they were my own; I had literally gone through a metamorphosis.

**I had grown wings.**


	2. The kids

Sorry for the long wait. I won't be able to write for a week so be patient. I hope you like this chapter.

I couldn't help but smile as my outstretched hand ran through the tips of the pine trees. My hair flapped in my face as I beat my wings to increase my speed. The sun slowly rose, sending my eyes blinking. I knew I needed to get back before it fully set or I wouldn't be able to find my way home. Also Uncle would be waking up and I didn't want to worry him.

Ever since my…my wings had grown, we needed to travel on the road again. Since I was still getting used to them I couldn't fold them along my back yet. Uncle told me when I could for long periods of time we'd be able to go back to live in a town. Sometimes I would pull "all nighters" and go out and look for more shelter.

Anyway, that's what I was doing now. I slowly banked left and turned around, heading back to our campsite. I'm not sure how or why I got my wings. Uncle told me he'd never seen anything like this. At least I could still use my fire bending. It did take a while to get used to having two long wings protruding out of your back. However, after a while I was able to actually fly, and control the movements of my wings. It was interesting being able to practically cocoon myself in my wings. It added a little more warmth then we got from the blankets we took when we ran.

I slowly lowered toward the campsite. I cracked a few branches with my wings and winced. As I landed I skid along the ground, falling flat on my butt. I groaned, and stood up, pulling out the small twigs and leaves that were stuck in my feathers. "At least this time you did not knock over my tea," a voice said, coming out of the small cave. I turned to find Uncle coming out of it, pouring tea for both of us. I took the cup and drank, hoping we still had food. Luckily we did. Iroh gave me a small spongy pastry we'd gotten at the last village we'd stopped at. I ate it, thankfully. Ever since I got my wings I was grateful for just being alive. I savored everything we had.

Anyway, I walked out of the cave and began to pull our things together. "No, no Zuko," Uncle told me seeing this. "We will not be traveling today."

"But we've been here for almost three days," I told him.

"I know, but let us stay for one more. We need more food and besides," he said turning the tea pot upside down, "we're almost out of the essentials." I couldn't help but smile a little, but it was lost when I thought of how hard we were pushing our luck.

While Uncle was in town getting food, I flew back to a small mountain cave I'd found last night. Uncle wouldn't be back for a few hours, there was a tea shop that according to him made the best jasmine mint. Anyway, I sat down in the cave, rubbing my wings in the dirt. The darkness of the cave felt good on my eyes and I slowly lied down and closed them. All nighters can really take it out of you and before long I was asleep.

My dream seemed to start seconds after I fell asleep. I was flying high, above a terrain I'd never seen before. The trees were thin and large buildings had sprouted up, everywhere. Before long I couldn't see any trees. Just large buildings, and not the buildings from the four nations either they were large gray buildings that were made of a kind of metal. No one looked at me, even though it was the middle of the day. Everything was in a fog. I wasn't sure if this was from the dream or if it was natural. Anyway, my wings seemed to be carrying me to an unknown place so I let them.

Finally, I reached a large abandoned building. The windows were boarded up but it still wasn't hard to crawl between them into a large room. Once I was inside the room and my eyes had adjusted to the darker surroundings I gasped. Sitting around me were 6 kids. There were three boys and three girls. The eldest ones couldn't be older than 15. And the most amazing thing was they had wings too. Wings like mine. I couldn't help but stare at them. They were different colors. The one whose wings were closest to mine was a boy who sat brooding in the corner. He had dark hair like mine and wore black pants, and a black t-shirt. His cloths were so much different them mine. I subconsciously realized that this was a sort of different world. A world with no 4 nations or bending. No Avatar. No honor to be restored. I smiled and turned to leave. I then realized I didn't know how to get back here. _Go to the back of the cave, _a small voice said in my head. I sighed and nodded. It was like that dream voice, it told me things I needed to know.

I suddenly felt the dream end. I woke up in the cave and crawled out to look at the sun. I was surprised to see that it hadn't moved at all. I smiled. This way I could travel to the "dimension" without Uncle worrying. I walked to the back of the cave. Darkness surrounded me and I made a small ball of fire to light my way. Suddenly, I saw a small purple light, shining at the end of the tunnel. As I got closer the light became bigger and bigger until I stood in front of a door sized purple and blue portal. I gulped and turned. "Bye uncle," I said quietly. I then turned back, unfurled my wings and jumped into the portal.

**Max's point of view**

We'd been staying in the old building for what seemed like forever, even though it'd only been two days. Even though we could see anyone for miles, it still made me hyper to be in one place for so long. "Max," Nudge said putting down her Pretty Little Liars novel I'd swiped from the nearby library.

"Yes, honey," I said.

"What's a…slut," she asked me in a serious voice. I saw Fang stifle a laugh from the corner. I stuck out my tongue at him and turned back to Nudge. I knew I shouldn't have gotten a book like that for an 11 year old but she'd begged me and I couldn't say no to her little puppy dog eyes.

"Um, well, see sweetie, a slut is…" I began.

However I was cut off when Angel suddenly cried, "Intruder!" I think that was the first time I was mildly happy to have an intruder. I turned and looked were Angel was pointing. It was very late at night, maybe it was even the morning. However, even in the darkness I saw the large bird flying toward us.

"Umm, Angel, that's just a bird," Gazzy said rolling his eyes.

"No, it's not! I can hear his thoughts. It's a boy!"

I was shocked. A boy with wings. He was like us. "Watch it," Fang told me, "We've been tricked before."

He had a point. "Good point," I said. "Come on guys, go get him but don't hurt him."

"He's thinking about fire and death," Angel said.

Everyone turned to me. I nodded, "Okay guys, you can hurt him if you want. Just don't kill him." With that everyone jumped out of the windows and flew through the air toward the intruder.

**Zuko's point of view**

I flapped my wings and got closer and closer to the building. I was glad I had used my fire bending in the cave. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to use it for a while. I was glad the Avatar hadn't followed me. His flying bison would've gotten killed in minutes.

Suddenly, I found six large shapes flying toward me. _The kids,_ I thought. I tried to yell and tell them I meant no harm but they just flew faster, towards me. "Stop," I screamed. However they didn't. One of them, a small girl no older than six or seven with blonde hair, threw a punch at my cheek. I gasped and dropped about six feet. However, before I could fully regain myself the boy whose wings were black like mine kicked my ear. I yelled in pain and fell. I couldn't stop myself from falling. Luckily I passed out before I hit.

**Max's point of view**

I watched as Angel and Fang attacked the boy. Well, I guess he wasn't really a boy. He was probably 16, two years older than me, Fang and Iggy. He had dark hair, like Fang's but was shorter. He wore weird Chinese like attire. His wings were weirdly colored as well. They were pitch black, with bright red streaks all over them. However, the weirdest part of him was his right eye. Well, my right, his left. Anyway, it was covered with a bright red scar. I recognized it as a fire burn. It had seared off his eye brow and had manipulated his ear. I gasped as Fang kicked his ear. I pulled in my wings and plummeted down, fast and agile. Finally, I let out my wings and caught him. He was unconscious. I dropped down onto the ground and placed him on the ground. Luckily, since it was, like, three in the morning, no one was around to see us. "How is he?" Fang asked.

I shook my head, "he's okay. He'll need some good food and rest. Iggy, Angel, Gazzy and I will carry him back to the hideout. Nudge and Fang, go and get some food from that seven-eleven." They nodded. As we carried the boy back I heard Nudge say, as she walked into the store and looked around, "Ohh, now I know what a slut is."


	3. The skills

Zuko's Point of View

I felt a soft cloth dab at my forehead. I opened my eyes a crack and found a girl leaning over me. The sun was setting, or maybe it was rising, behind her so I couldn't really see her features. I could definitely tell it was a girl though, because her hair flowed around her face and she was quietly whispering, "I think he's waking up." She then stood and moved slightly so the sun shown right in my eyes. I groaned and blinked against the light. "Angel, put a tarp over that window, it's hurting his eyes," the girl said.

The light then vanished and I could see what the girl looked like. She had brownish blond, shoulder length hair and tan skin. She wore a grungy shirt and blue pants that ended at her ankles. She had light brown eyes. Her wings were 14 feet long and pale tan with white streaks and some freckly-looking spots. I sighed. She was beautiful.

Suddenly, the small girl with light blond hair stifled a gasp. The other kids around the room looked over at her. I tried to sit up but my head felt so heavy I fell back on the small pillow. "Slow, dude," the beautiful girl said, "you got knocked out pretty hard. Sorry about that, by the way. What's your name?"

I rubbed my eyes and head and eventually muttered, "Zuko." I saw her exchange a glance with the boy nearby.

"Well, anyway, my name's Max, I'm fourteen. That's Angel, she's six," Max said, pointing to the small girl. She sure was small; she probably just reached my chest. Her hair was curly and white blond. She too wore blue pants, made out of the small material as Max's and a pink shirt. She had her wings unfurled around her. They were probably around 8 feet long and pure white.

"That's the Gasman, his sister, and he's eight" Max continued pointing to a boy standing next to her. He had blond hair, like his sister and blue eyes. He, along with the rest of the kids, wore blue pants. He wore a black shirt, as well. His wings were roughly 10 feet long and light brown with white streaks in them.

"This is Nudge…," Max began pointing to the other girl but the other girl jumped up and sat down beside me.

"I'm Nudge," she said quickly in a peppy voice, "my real name's Monique. I'm eleven years old."

"Nudge, please," the Gasman said, "we don't want him to go deaf."

Nudge, or Monique, had dark mocha skin and tangled brown hair. Her wings were a tawny color.

"This is Iggy," Max continued, "He, Fang and I are all fourteen." Iggy had pale skin and strawberry blond hair. His eyes were blue but seemed to be fogged over for some reason. He also didn't star directly at me, he stared to my right. I'd seen the behavior only once: with the Avatars earth bending friend. The blind one. Iggy was blind. His wings were white with black streaks and were over sixteen feet long.

Fang was sitting down a few feet away. He had dark black hair, dark eyes and olive skin. His wings were the same length as Max's and were jet black. He stood up at the mention of his name and walked over to Max and stared down at me.

"So where are you from Zuko?" He asked.

I slowly sat up and propped myself up on my elbows. "Well, I think this may sound very weird to you guys but I was the prince in the fire nation." I waited for their reaction. Max looked at Fang.

"What is the fire nation?" Iggy asked, turning toward my voice.

"Well, what I think happened was…,"I began but Angel cut me off.

"He lived in another dimension," Angel said, "he traveled here to escape his fate of killing the Avatar. He only recently got his wings." I stared at her in amazement.

"Angel can read minds," Max said, seeing my face. My eyes widened. That meant she'd heard what I'd thought about Max. "What's the Avatar?" she asked me. So I told them about my fate, and the Avatar and restoring my honor.

"Are you asking to join my flock?" Max asked once I'd finished.

I nodded slightly. "I don't know where I would go if I couldn't."

Max and Fang exchanged a glance but then motioned everyone to huddle together.

Max Point of View

"What do you think?" I asked Fang, when we'd all huddled in the corner.

"I don't know. He seems trustworthy but seriously, when did that ever become true?" He said.

"True," I said, "Angel what do you think?" Angel was staring off into space slightly but when I addressed her she snapped back into reality.

"Um, well, he's definitely telling the truth. His mind sure is messed up though. You don't want to know how he got that scar. It's horrible." That was reason enough to tell him no for me but Angel had endured worse things. "He also has some great talents that he's hiding."

I looked over at Fang and he shrugged. "It's worth a try," he said. With that we turned back to Zuko, who stood apprehensively. "So, Zuko," Fang said, "What do you have to offer our flock? Any cool talents?"

Zuko's eyes widened. He then pulled two swords out of a sheath he had on his back. My education on sword work was missing a few holes but I could still tell they were duel swords. Zuko drew the swords and started swinging them. It was so graceful, like a dance. Once he was done he sheathed them and looked at us. He was breathing hard and sweat glistened off his forehead, like little diamonds. Angel giggled and I repressed the thought, once again annoyed at her ability to read minds.

"Well, that was…impressive," Gazzy said. "Anything else?"

Zuko looked around at all of us and looked down at his feet. "I have one more thing," he said, hesitantly, "but you may want to step back." Slowly, gradually he held out his hands and clenched his fists. Suddenly, a small spark of fire shot out of his hand up into the air. We all gasped and backed up. After the spark went out, Zuko then drew a long line of fire in mid air. He then created a ball of fire and slowly shot it up in the air where it exploded into a display of fireworks. He then hung his hands by his side and shot a breath of fire out onto the floor.

We all stood in silence, in awe. He could create fire out of nothing! For a few minutes we all stood in amazement. Iggy was the first to speak. "What did he do?" He whispered to Gazzy.

The Gasman gulped and whispered, "He created fire. Like out of nothing. He can move it and control it. It's so cool man."

"Since I'm from the fire nation I'm a Fire bender," Zuko said.

"Wow, that's…sweet," Fang said.

"So can I be in the group or flock or whatever?" Zuko asked.

I looked over at Fang. He then gave the most miniscule nod. I smiled at him and nodded. "Sure, with skills like that you could be really helpful." Zuko's eyes lit up and he smiled slightly. "First however, we need to get you knew clothes." Fang nodded and said he'd take him with Iggy to go shopping with the little money we still had.

Once they had flown off I couldn't help but watch Fang's dark figure go off into the horizon. He was just so graceful sometimes. So strong and smart, but gentle and caring. And he was so downright attractive in those skinny black jeans. Angel stifled a laugh. I shot her glance. "Wow," Nudge said sitting down with Angel, "that Zuko guy is really…hot, even without the fire."

I saw Angel smile and said, "well, don't get your hopes up. He's already got the hot's for someone else."

"Who?" Nudge asked interested.

"Max."

I gasped. Oh Crap!


	4. The fight

**Here it is. Finally. I'm sorry it's been so delayed. I've been working on other stories and then there's school. I hope you like this chapter and please review. You guys are the best.**

Max's Point of view

I knotted my hands in his pitch black hair. He was breathing hard like we all did after long flights. The moon light illuminated us. I peeked over into the cave and found the flock fast asleep, just as they had been two minutes ago when I'd checked on them.

I then turned back to his dark deep eyes. They showed me how tortured his life had been but how happy he was at this moment. I then leaned in, as he did the same. His lips were soft and firm at the same time. I then leaned back so he lay on top of me. His arms wrapped around me as mine wrapped around him.

"Max," he hissed. "Can I…?" although I already knew what he meant.

"Of course," I whispered. Even in the darkness of the night I could see him smile. Very slowly, calmly he opened his mouth. He then stuck his tongue softly onto mine. Now, before you start jumping to conclusions and all you frenching virgins start telling me how gross it is, well, you've never done it. It actually is very nice. You're not thinking about how you could be contracting diseases and totally letting your guard down. You're thinking about how wonderful that person is.

We both eventually had to breathe so we pulled off each other. His hand cushioned my head against the rock I leaned against. The sun suddenly appeared out of nowhere, illuminating me and the flock. I looked over to see Angel and Nudge sit up together, accidentally kicking Iggy's leg. "Hey," he said, waking Gazzy and Fang. _Wait, Fang!_ I thought looking over at the still drowsy black figure, sitting up and stretching his arms and wings.

If Fang was sleeping who was I kissing? I looked up to see Zuko's scared and unscarred eyes stare into mine. Before I could get up and make sense of what was going on his lips connected with mine once again. _Push him off, push him off. What the heck are you doing? Push him off!_ My mind screamed at me. _Why the heck aren't you pushing him off? _I thought. However, one simple thought answered that impending question. _Because I really like it._

I sat up quickly, breathing hard. "What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" Fang asked his head near mine. I couldn't help but gasp and do a double take to make sure it was actually Fang. I nodded quickly and looked around to find us still in the abandoned office building. "What was it about?" Fang asked. I shook my head, still to overwhelmed by feelings.

It's been three days since Zuko had joined our group. Every since Angel had told me about his thoughts I couldn't help but notice his actions. He'd stare at me intently, watching me. He would also offer to help if I was going out to get food or stuff. He was really sweet but Fang had been with me longer. We had history.

"Oh come on! Tell me!"

"No, it's nothing," I said looking to the flock and Zuko's sleeping figures. I knew it hadn't really been Zuko who'd kissed me but I couldn't help but glare at his sleeping self.

Fang saw it and looked at me. "What happened?" He said his voice full of steel.

I smiled and looked over at him. "Nothing, every things fine," I told him and looked down at my watch. I sighed when I saw it was before six in the morning. "Let's just go back to sleep." Fang looked like he wanted to pry but, like the friend he was, he didn't. I leaned back onto the floor and, as quickly as I woke up, I fell asleep.

However, I wasn't asleep for long. I was shaken awake by Angel. "Angel, what is it?" I asked her. I still wished for a few more hours of sleep but when I saw her face I realized this was important.

"Something's coming," she told me. I jumped up and looked out the window to see a group of large flying objects coming flying toward us.

"Crap," I muttered. "Are they birds or Erasers?" I asked, although I already knew the answer, and was dreading it.

"They're Easers all right," Angel told me. I nodded, and turned to my stirring flock.

"Guys, come on. Erasers are coming, get up!" I called, clapping my hands and putting my stuff back in my backpack. Everyone jumped up, like they'd been trained to do, and began to pack like I did. Zuko barely stirred but finally got up when Fang went over and "lightly" kicked his side. Fang then came over to me and looked at the Easer's approaching figure.

"There's going to be a fight," he said, as calmly as if we were just talking about the weather. I nodded and turned to Zuko, who was still looking sleepy eyed. He wore normal jeans and at t-shirt and his hair stuck out in weird angles. The rest of the flock were all awake and ready to go. "Max," Fang said suddenly, following my gaze and looking at Zuko.

"I know," I said. "He's dangerous. We haven't had enough time to train him and he'll cost us injuries if he messes up." He could cost us someone's life. No, I wouldn't let that happen. "Fang," I began but he cut me off.

"Don't worry. There are only three Easers. I'll fly with Zuko north. You guys can easily take the Easers down and catch up with us. We'll find some mountain or something and train him to fight."

I shook my head. "We can't afford to lose our best fighter."

He smiled and hugged me. "Don't worry you're more than a match for the Easers." Before I could argue he turned and walked over to Zuko and after a few words and a lot of nodding and pointing they jumped out the window. I watched the two black figures fly out the window and downward. That way the Easers wouldn't see them leave. The city was still mostly asleep so no one would spot them. When they were about three miles away from the building, they made an ascent and flew off into the distance. I then turned to see the rest of the flock staring at me, ready for a fight.

"All right guys," I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder, "let's do this."

As if on cue, a large claw suddenly burst through the window, nearly hitting Angel's face. Following the claw was the rest of the bloodthirsty Easer. He swung his claw at Angel who easily dodged it. I wanted to run over and help her but before I could, another one raked his claw against my arm, leaving angry red lines on my left forearm. I hissed in my breath in pain and swung a kick at the Easer's head. He tried to dodge it but my foot still connected with his ear, causing thick blood to run down his face. As he recovered I saw Angel and Gazzy taking on the one who'd almost hurt Angel. I didn't see the second Easer or Iggy and Nudge, though. The Easer suddenly swung his legs around on the ground, trying to knock my feet out from under me. I easily jumped, unfurling my wings. I soon realized that our hideout definitely wasn't the best place for flight. The end of my wings hit the wall, making me wince. I quickly tucked them in and flew out the window, glad to be out in the open.

I found Nudge and Iggy, battling the second Easer. I spun around to find my Easer shooting towards me. I easily dodged but he turned quickly. They were definitely getting faster. "Where is he?" He asked, throwing a punch at my face, which I deflected with my forearm, wincing as his furry arm ran over my cuts.

"Who?" I asked, swinging a kick at his side.

"Your new…member," the Easer hissed in his silky smooth tone. My eyes widened. I should've realized they would be after Zuko. From what he'd told us, I knew he hadn't been made in a lab. The School would definitely want to get their hands on him; or claws since they sent the Easers after us.

My training stopped me from turning my head to look for Zuko and Fang. I knew if I did it would tip off the Easers off. Since Zuko still wasn't the strongest flyer I knew they would be only ten miles away and the Easers would easily see them. _Fly Fang! Fly fast,_ I thought desperately.

Zuko's Point of View

I didn't want to leave Max behind but Fang told me he needed my fire bending for something. I rolled my eyes. Did they think I was stupid? I could tell from the rest of the bird kids they were doing something else. Probably something they think I'm not ready for. We were heading north, away from the city. When we were roughly ten miles away Fang looked back slightly and his eyes widened.

I turned as well, interested in what surprised him. Max had told me about our raptor vision so I wasn't surprised to find myself seeing the building perfectly, as if I were only a few feet away. I gasped. Big wolf creatures that had wings like us flew around the building. One was fighting Iggy, who was having trouble holding his own, while Nudge lay unconscious on the roof. I couldn't see Angel or the Gasman. Max was fighting one on the side of the building. However she wasn't doing well. One eye was black and she had cuts on her face and arms.

I growled and shot back to the building. I didn't listen to Fang, who told me not to. I needed to save Max. I was nearing the building within minutes and shot a ball of fire at the wolf creature. It fell back, surprised. I flew toward Max. However, before I could reach her, the wolf creature batted a claw at me. I quickly dodged it, and threw a kick at its face. It retreated back and punched Max as it did. She gasped and began to fall down the side of the building. I didn't see where she landed or if she landed because as I looked down the wolf sent a punched me hard in the face. I growled and cracked my knuckles to emphasize my anger. "So you're the new one?" It said. My eyes widened when it did. I didn't know it could talk. "We've been looking for you," it continued. I swung my leg in anger and it connected with his head. "Why are you even trying?" The thing said, shaking his head in annoyance. "Are skin and fur is no match for you simple fire," he said, scratching my leg with his claw. I bit my lip to keep from yelling.

"How about swords?" I cried, remembering my duel blades I had brought with me. I brought them out, and without a second thought, stabbed the great beast right in the gut. He gasped and held his bleeding stomach, falling to the ground.

Before I could recover I found the two other wolf creatures closing in on me. One came from the roof and one came from inside. The one from the roof shoot at me, and I flew to the side dodging him. The other one flew over to Max who was holding her side in pain and trying to fight off the creature without much success. I swung my swords at the one fighting me but they learned quickly. I swung at him with my leg but he dodged it. I drew a ball of fire and it caused him to jump back in alarm. While he was still in shock I quickly plunged the sword into his gut. He too fell. "Two down, one to go," I muttered. I turned and gasped, finding the wolf's fangs inches from my face.

"You were saying?" It growled. It swiftly punched my face and I hissed in pain. Before I could recover, it sent its claws raking over my forearm. I barely reacted because I knew that's what it wanted. I felt the cool blood run down my left arm and it sent shivers down my spine. The wolf creature laughed slightly, and sent a kick at my leg.

I swung down, trying to block it, but while I did this he batted his hand right over my eye; no, not my normal eye, my left one. I couldn't help it. I would've normally put on a brave face and not have reacted but I couldn't help it. I screamed in pain and agony. It sent lightning bolts jabbing through my skull. I held my eye, shaking in horror and anguish. I didn't get it. My eye had always been more sensitive than my right one but I had never felt this much pain. It throbbed, almost as if it had a mind of its own.

I didn't notice until almost too late that my wings were curling in. I was dropping fast. I opened my wings fully, darting above the street, stinging tears flying from my eyes. I looked up to find the wolf chasing me. I zigzagged up down a few blocks and then turned and stopped. The wolf was still coming fast but I didn't budge. I knew what to do. I had to do it. The wolf was inches away when I took out my swords. They swung so fast even I couldn't see them and neither did the creature. He flew right into the blades, ending our fight.

I stood rooted to the ground, breathing hard and evenly. I looked up to find a group of distant birds gathering at the top of a nearby building. I figured Max was up there because if she wasn't they would probably be flying downward to her broken body. I didn't want to join them. I wanted to run, to run far away and forget all the problems I'd caused. However, I knew if I ran, the wolf things would find me and that would be much worse than facing my actions. With that thought, I sighed and jumped into the air.

Fang's POV

I felt my hair shoot backwards as I pushed my wings harder and harder, propelling myself through the air. _Damn you Zuko, you're gonna get yourself killed,_ I thought staring at the black and red wings that flew ahead of me. As this thought ran through my head I shot of hope ran with it. I pushed this thought quickly out of my head, in case Angel could hear me. I didn't need her knowing my feelings for Zuko.

Anyway, I reached the building seconds after Zuko did. He was taking on an Easer. I raked the building with my eyes for Max and the others but I couldn't find them. However, I suddenly saw Max, plummeting to the ground, her body clenched in pain and agony. I shot down like a bullet and grabbed her heavy body. She winced and groaned. I pulled her out of her descent and helped her limp back to the roof.

Once we got there I found everyone else. Nudge lay dazed on the roof, a large gash in her forehead. I ran to her and found her breathing but in a lot of pain. Everyone was around her, all showing off their many bruises and bashes. When they all saw Max however, they started swarming around her. "No," she said, seeing their reactions and struggling to stand. "Nudge needs more care then me." However, Angel still ran up to her and hugged her. I could tell it caused Max pain but she hugged back anyway.

I knelt down next to Nudge. Her gash was bleeding badly. I took off my jacket and put it on the cut to clot the blood. She winced and groaned. "Bad?" I asked her. She barely nodded. I brushed back her hair out of the mess.

All of a sudden, Zuko flew up to the roof. He took in the sight. "Is she okay?" He asked running over to Max. I rolled my eyes and pulled a strip of fabric off my shirt and wrapped it around Nudge's head and slowly helped her sit up.

"Can you fly?" I asked her. She stood up and nodded.

"Yah, just give me a minute," she said, holding her head. I turned around to find Max in much worse shape. She had lost too much blood and her ribs had really taken a beating. Angel and Gazzy were helping Nudge, and Iggy and Zuko knelt over Max. "We need to move her, in case they come back," I said. They both agreed.

"Max," Zuko said in a soft voice, "You're going to be okay." It took all my strength not to push him back. Nudge then wobbled over to us with Gazzy and Angel. We all stood up except for Max, who was too weak.

"We're going to need to help her," I said. With that, Iggy took one arm and I took the other. We pulled Max to her feet but she barely upright in the air for long before she fell back into our arms.

I bit my lip and groaned. "We can't do this. She's too weak. It would take some magic healing power or something."

We were silent for a few seconds before Zuko said quietly, "I think I can help."


	5. The proposition

Ok, ok, before I start I have to begin with an apology. I am so sorry I haven't written in a while. This is one of the three stories I'm highly committed to right now and it's kind of gotten thrown under the bus for a while. However, now it's back and I promise I will try to write more often. Thank you for all your reviews. You guys are amazing! Also, I'm a little rusty with these characters so forgive me if this isn't one of my best chapters. Ok, that's it. I love all you guys. Keep up the reviews and the love.

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_ Why am I doing this? Why am I going back to the place where I messed up so many times! _I thought as my wings beat the air. _Max,_ My mind told me. I nodded mentally. Max needed me.

When I had told the rest of the flock my plan they hadn't been optimistic. I didn't blame them. However, when they faced the reality of Max's situation they agreed. With Fang staying behind with her and Nudge in a cave we'd found, the rest of the flock had followed me back through the dark portal.

And know we were flying over the trees of an earth kingdom forest. "Zuko! Where are we?" I heard Gazzy call.

"The Earth kingdom," I told him. He didn't say anything else but I knew the three of them were confused. Suddenly, a sent caught my nose, the sweet, silky scent of jasmine mint tea. I shot towards the scent, excitement fueling my actions. I heard Angel calling after me but ignored her. My uncle was down there and I needed to see him.

I landed in the woods and saw uncle look up from his tea. "Hello?" He called. I pulled in my wings and slowly began to walk into the clearing.

I heard Iggy, Gazzy and Angel land quietly behind me. "What are you doing?" I heard Angel breathe. I ignored her.

Uncle saw me. "Wh-?" He began. However as I stepped completely out of the trees, my hair flapping slightly in front of my eyes, his face rang with recognition. "Oh, Zuko, good you're back. I figured you'd fly off while I was gone."

I had to remind myself time hadn't passed while I was gone so he hadn't noticed my absence. I looked down at the ground and then back at uncle. "Actually uncle, I've been gone for about two days." Confusion crossed his face so I took my time to explain. When I got to part about the flock I waved the other guys forward. As they came into our clearing uncle's eyes widened a mile wide.

"Amazing," I heard him whisper.

"So you believe me?" I asked him.

He nodded. "How could I not, the proof is kind of right in front of me." I smiled and sighed with relief. Not that I didn't think uncle would believe me…it's just that, it's pretty hard to believe.

"Well, why have you come back?" Uncle asked.

"We have a problem," I told him. I then explained how we had to find someone who could heal.

Uncle eyes shifted, as if he were thinking. "Well, you don't know this. I heard it from a man in the market. He's heard the water tribe girl traveling with the Avatar can…" I cut him off.

"No! I'm not getting them involved. I left all that here."

"Look, Zuko. I haven't heard anything about more healers. If you really want this girl to be okay you need to track down the Avatar and his friends and convince him to save your friend!"

I groaned and turned and hit a tree in frustration. Suddenly, I felt something warm on my leg. I was about to flick whatever it was away but when I looked down I found Angel hugging me. "Please find the healer Zuko. We need to save Max. We can't survive without her." I looked over at Gazzy and Iggy and they nodded solemnly. I looked back at Iroh and he shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and rubbed my neck. "Fine, let's go," I said and without another word I ran across the clearing and jumped into the air.

I have to admit, it's a lot easier finding the Avatar when you have wings. Uncle told me, once I had landed with the reality of needing a plan, that the group had left Ba Sing Se after it had fallen to the fire nation. Apparently, Azula had kidnapped the healing girl and imprisoned her in the old catacombs under the city. Aang, the Avatar, had gone to save her but was shot down. The last anyone had ever heard of them were that they had fled the city.

I rubbed my forehead, trying to think. "They need a mode of transportation. Something the fire nation won't shoot down or become suspicious of," I said, thinking. "They wouldn't have taken the sky bison and they couldn't travel on foot with the Avatar hurt." A moment of silence followed my speculation. "Water. That's the only way out of the city. They probably stole a fire nation ship and are sailing under false pretenses." I looked over to my uncle. He was nodding his head.

"That is quite possible. They will probably sailing toward the fire nation. They'll be looking for a fire bender to teach Aang." I nodded.

"Let's go," I said, longing to be back in the air. "We'll just look for a fire nation ship sailing away from Ba Sing Se. Any other ship will sail toward it under orders." Everyone nodded.

"Do you want to eat before you go?" Uncle asked. Iggy turned toward his voice.

"It would be smart," he said, hesitantly.

Angel nodded as well. She looked over at the setting sun. "We could also wait for the sky to darken. We could fly out in the open without anyone seeing us."

I groaned and clenched my fists. We need to save Max, I thought desperately. However, I also knew they were right. Turning back around, I agreed that we wait until dark. So we all gathered around Uncle's warm fire to wait out the light.

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium of waiting (really it was only an hour) we took flight to search for the Avatar. Like I said, I wish I had wings before now. We flew just below the clouds, raking the ships with our eyes for evidence of the Avatar. Most ships were sailing back towards Ba Sing Se.

We had probably been flying a few hours when Angel complained. "Zuko, I'm tired. When will we call it a night?" I have to admit, I was getting pretty tired myself.

"Ten more minutes," I called back, surging forward. I heard groaning behind me but ignored it. _Please, please, please._ I thought frantically.

Suddenly, I saw something. Something I'd seen before. Something that usually caused a fire of hate to flare up in me but now it caused happiness to grow in me. "There!" I cried and dropped clean out of the sky toward the ship slowly making its way toward the fire nation, a large bulky animal sitting on the main deck of the ship.

I pulled out of my sharp dive and landed on the deck. A man turned and saw me. "Who?" He asked. I folded up my wings as best I could and stepped forward. That's when he recognized me. "Intruder!" his deep voice rang out over the silence of the night. I was about to tell him I come in peace or something but, before I could, I felt a deep pain in my head, and then everything went black.

Sokka's point of view

I dragged Zuko slowly towards the brig. Why was this horrible murderer here, I didn't know. I figured he would be heading back to fire nation or something. However, right then, all I cared about was getting him some place he couldn't hurt anyone.

A yawn broke through my lips. I looked up at the bright moon, high in the sky. It was still really late or really early. I groaned in annoyance but continued dragging the unconscious body forward. All of a sudden, I felt the body move. "Great," I muttered. Zuko groaned and I resisted the urge to kick him.

When I finally reached the brig, I opened a cell door and threw him in making sure his head hit the wall hard. He gasped and held his skull. "Why are you even here?" I spat at him. He shook his head and looked up at me.

Then suddenly, he jumped forward at the bars. I gasped and drew my club. "Please," he said. I frowned at his tone. He sounded so pleading, so sad. "Please, I need to speak to your sister. She has healing ability right?"

I knit my eyebrows. Why did he want to see Katara? "I'll pass on the message," I said roughly.

He widened his eyes in desperation but eventually spoke. "I'm not the same person who chased you before."

I scoffed at him. "Prove it!"

He looked at me and stood up. All of sudden, long dark black wings protruded out of his back. I gasped and backed up slightly in shock. "What the…?" I exclaimed.

"I was sick…I grew wings," he said, "I don't know how."

"Why do you need Katara?" I asked, suspiciously. He rolled his eyes and rubbed his neck in annoyance.

"Can't I talk to her?"

I shook my head. "Tell me!"

He glared at me but finally said, "There's a portal. It goes to a different world. I met more teens like me…with wings. The leader…she's beautiful! She got injured…she could die! I need to save her. I can gain her trust and she could like me back. Please, help me!"

I stared at him. The story sounded true enough but I was reluctant to help him. He obviously saw this and cried, "Have you ever been in love?" I paused, Yue and Suki crossing my mind. "What if she was going to leave you, would you do anything for them?" I turned so he couldn't see my face. I tried to save Yue, but I failed. I turned back and sighed.

"Fine, I send for Katara." With that I turned and went to find Katara.

Zuko's point of view

Not long after Sokka had left, Katara appeared. "What do you want?" Her tone was annoyed and I didn't blame her. I quickly explained what was going on and that I needed her. She stared at me for a while but finally groaned. "Why should I help you? Your people killed my mother!"

I stared at her and finally said, "Well, that's something we have in common." As she looked at me I told her about my mother. She looked down and then walked closer.

"Sorry," she said, embarrassed. I stepped closer and smiled.

"Could you please help her? Please?" I begged, taking her hands through the bars. She stared into my eyes, biting her lip. Finally, she nodded.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I cried, hugging her, sending us both slamming into the bars.

"What the…?" We turned and saw Aang standing there, wrapped in bandages. Katara quickly explained that she would go to Max with me and be back within a few days. Aang, however, wasn't okay with this. "I'm coming with you!"

"I'll be okay, Aang," Katara insisted. But Aang wasn't hearing this.

"No! I don't trust you with him. I'm coming with you!"

"We're all going with you." We turned to find Sokka and the little earth bending girl walking toward us.

I groaned. However, taking everyone was the only way I'd get back to the flock…to Max. I bit my lip and nodded. "They can go," I told Aang. "We'll all go." Aang seemed content with this so they let me out of the brig, much to Sokka's annoyance.

"We can take your bison through the portal but we have to keep it hidden. It'll get you to our hidden cave and then we won't use it."

"Ok," Aang said, annoyance radiating off his words. "His name is Appa, he's not an "it". I'll do it, though. It's a good idea." I smiled slightly and nodded.

Suddenly, we heard a scream coming from the deck of the ship. "Angel!" I remembered and sprinted up the stairs. I found Angel, Iggy and Gazzy in the hands of water tribe men. They were struggling but couldn't shake them.

"Let them go!" Sokka told them. The three fell to the ground, scared. I quickly explained to them what happened and what we were going to do. They agreed rather quickly. With a plan in our minds, we were assigned rooms and fell asleep.

It worked as well as we expected it to. We left around dawn, flying towards the sunrise. The wonderful, familiar feeling of flying sent tingles down my spine and a smile on my face. We reached the portal and led Appa down the tunnel. He resisted at first but Aang eventually got him to follow us and into the portal.

In the other world the sun had barely risen so Aang was able to fly Appa up above the clouds, out of sight, safely. The closer we got to the cave, the more anxious I got. What if Max was worse? What if she had gotten better? What if going to all this trouble had been a waste? What if she was already…No! I couldn't think of that.

Finally, I couldn't handle it anymore. I jumped from Appa's back and flew ahead. I reached the cave and gasped. Nudge lay on the hard rock, fast asleep but her face was contorted in pain. She wasn't, however, who I was worried about. Max lay feet away, her fists clenched, and her body tight. An amateur bandage had been quickly applied to her side but it was still bleeding. Her breathing was raspy and uneven. I looked for Fang, waiting for him to be pacing, waiting for me or maybe holding Max's hand telling her to hold on. However, he sat on a rock beside her. His eyes were shut tight, as if blocking out the world. His fists were at his cheeks, his elbows on his knees. He looked up and saw us. As he did, a single, small tear fell down his cheek. I gulped and gasped for air, holding down my own tears, because I knew what this meant.

It was hopeless!


	6. The truth

I stared, in terror, at Fang and Max. I tried to tell her to hold on, even though it was useless. Suddenly, the bison landed on the large ledge outside the cave. I didn't turn to see them; I didn't even indicate I knew they were there.

Katara appeared next to me. I raised my hand slowly and pointed to Max. She ran over to Max and bent the water out of her pouch onto Max's side. Max gasped and flinched but her eyes didn't open. "There's a lot of tension and she's bled a lot. It'll be hard, but I'm pretty sure I can save her." Fang stood up and walked over to me.

"Can she save her?" He asked me. I nodded.

"If she couldn't I wouldn't have brought her here." Suddenly, Katara gasped and Max's eyes fluttered opened. We both ran over to her and knelt next to her.

"Max," Fang said, pushing some hair out of her face. She sucked in a deep breath and tried to sit up.

"Take it slow," Katara advised her.

"Who are you?" Max asked, pulling her arm away from Katara. However, she was still weak and quickly fell back against Katara.

"My name is Katara; this is Sokka, Aang and Toph." Max looked everyone over.

"Fang, what's going on?" She asked, her voice trembling a little.

"She can help you, she can heal you," Fang told her. However, Katara's face said otherwise. Something was wrong. "Right?" She gasped a little as Fang addressed her.

"What?" She said, shaken.

"You can heal her right? Well you already have, right?" That was the first time I saw Fang smile slightly. Katara noticed it too. She paused for a moment and bit her lip, cracking a small smile herself.

"Yes, of course," she said, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. Fang didn't notice however. He kept staring at Max. I turned and saw the sun reaching the middle of the sky.

"I'll go get some lunch," I announced and everyone agreed so I took some money from our small stash and flew out to find a McDonald's or something.

When I got back I found everyone had migrated into their own little groups. Max was sitting up and looked a lot better. Fang sat beside her and Katara on her other side. Angel was sitting cross legged by Katara who was brushing her hair. Nudge must've had a healing session because she looked a lot better. She was lying on her stomach next to Aang who was showing her air bending tricks. The Gasman and Sokka were sitting together, drawing schematics for bombs in the dirt. Finally, Toph and Iggy stood beside each other, talking about the rock wall, or something.

"Food!" Gazzy yelled and ran toward me. After passing the burgers and fries, we all sat in a circle.

"What kind of food is this?" Sokka asked.

"Just try it," Gazzy exclaimed, his mouth full of fries. Sokka tentatively took a bite of his burger and his eyes widened.

"Wow!" He cried, and the rest of the benders nodded in agreement. We all ate quickly as the sun grew higher in the sky. Once we were done Nudge stood up and gave a sideways glance to Aang.

"I'm gonna…go stretch my wings for a bit." She began to walk toward the entrance of the cave but paused. When no one reacted, she slowly spread out her wings and took off. I saw Max smile slightly. Suddenly, Aang stood up.

"Well, I'm gonna go…"

"Follow her?" Sokka said, smiling. Aang blushed but smiled back. He turned and ran out of the cave, jumping into the air.

Once they were gone, Toph and Iggy stood up and began walking deeper into the cave. "Where yah going?" Fang asked in a sing song voice.

"Toph's gonna help me listen for vibrations and stuff," Iggy told him, still walking.

"All right, just be careful," Max called.

Suddenly, an explosion erupted from about a mile north. I shoot up, and saw a funnel of dust shoot into the air. "Yes!" Gazzy shouted, punching the air and high fiving Sokka.

"What the heck was that?" Katara shouted, storming over to them.

"Just a little experiment," Sokka said, smiling. Katara rolled her eyes but Sokka ignored her. "You fly ahead to make sure it didn't kill anything. I'll bring the…stuff." With that, Gazzy took off, speeding toward the explosion.

Sokka quickly grabbed a bulging back pack. "Well…" he said, looking back at us. "…bye." With that, he ran out of the cave and scurried down the side of the cliff.

After they'd left, it left only Katara, Angel, Max, Fang and me. "So," Katara said, "What'cha want to do?" Awkward silence followed her question. She looked at Fang, who just glared at her. "Ok, I'm gonna go get us some water." She stood up and began to leave but Angel ran to follow her.

"Can I come too?" She begged. Katara shrugged and left, Angel following like a faithful puppy.

Around a five minutes after they'd left, Max suddenly gasped. "What is it?" Fang and I asked at the same time. We looked up and glared at each other and then back at Max. Her eyes were widened and she sat up. "Max, what is it?" Fang asked.

"I feel… different," she said, trying to stand up.

"Max, you're in no condition…" I began, but she stood anyway. She spread her wings and let out a deep breath. Before we could stop her she ran off the cliff, her wings supporting her into the air, high above the mountains. Fang and I looked at each other and then we followed her.

Fang was slightly faster than me but I didn't mind following him. I had a lot on my mind. Katara hadn't done any healing on Max since earlier that morning. This proved my idea: her healing wasn't what was healing Max. Max was becoming stronger on her own. Or was she?

The flock had told me about something called the School, a place where evil scientists would make genetic experiments like them. They had sent their wolf creatures, Erasers, to find us, well mostly me, because I hadn't been made in a lab. The flock told me the whitecoats (their nickname for the scientists) had expatriation dates for all of them and had given them all their special abilities.

As I thought about this I screeched to a halt (well, if you could screech to a halt in the air) and hovered slightly, my mind running a mile a minute. If the whitecoats did things to them before, couldn't they do things to them now? That was it! They were making Max feel suddenly better. They were controlling her health.

How they were doing it and why, I had no idea. All I knew, as I shot forward to catch up with Max and Fang, was Max wasn't getting better on her own and Katara's healing wasn't helping. However, as my wings beat the air over and over, a new and much more horrible thought occurred to me. If they could heal her, they could hurt her and if they could cure her…they could kill her!


	7. The Tales of a moutain valley somewhere

Hey guys! OMG, Thank you so much! You guys rock! I love every single one of your reviews. If you watch Avatar I based it off the episode The Tales of Ba Sing Se. I hope you like it.

The Tale of Toph and Iggy

Toph led Iggy down the deep tunnel, feeling the vibrations as she went. As she went deeper and deeper into the maze of caves, she wondered what she was looking for exactly. It wasn't until she reached the end of the main passage that she found it.

She gasped as she got a perfect picture in her head of what she was seeing. Standing before her were three sparkling waterfalls falling into a shining lake. Natural jewels studded the walls. Three skinny funnels shot straight up out of the ceiling, sending sunlight jumping off the gems.

"Oh Iggy," she whispered.

"What?" He demanded. "What is it? What does it look like?"

"Just look," she told him. "Feel the vibrations! Try!" Iggy stood in silence for a few seconds but eventually shook his head.

"I can't! I don't earth bend!"

"You don't have to earth bend! Just try! You're not trying!" Toph shook her head and nudged Iggy annoyed.

Silence followed her exclamation. Finally, Iggy just shook his head. "Take me back," he almost whispered.

"What? I thought we were going to go exploring all day. It's barely been an hour," Toph said confused.

"I thought you'd understand, but of course you don't," Iggy said, his voice cracking. "I thought we'd be friends because…you know…we both know about living in darkness. But of course, you barely know what I feel like. You've never lived in darkness. You can see where you are and you can see who's around you. I can't see that! I have no idea what's around me half the time. Ever since our house was demolished I have no idea what my surroundings are. And it totally sucks!"

As he said this, he had slowly been walking forward, towards the lake. "Iggy don't!" Toph yelled, but it was too late. Iggy fell face first into the water. "Iggy!" Toph screamed, and dove into the water. She wasn't exactly sure where he was but she felt the side of the deep lake and hit the rock hard, sending vibrations shooting around the water. Iggy was towards the bottom, thrashing in fear. Normally, if it was shallow, Iggy liked swimming. However, he didn't know where the surface was and, consequently was terrified.

Toph shot threw the water, down to the bottom. Once there, she shot a tall tower of rock towards the surface. She followed the tower up to the surface. She broke the surface, gasping for air. She crawled over onto the shore and lay on the side. She then made a bridge over to Iggy and walked across it. She reached him quickly and knelt beside him. From the limited vibrations coming from him, he was barely breathing. "Oh, I wish I was a water bender," she muttered. "Iggy please," she cried, "Please live." She placed her hands over his chest and pushed down, over and over. Little amounts of water fell down his cheeks out of his mouth. Suddenly, he gasped and gripped Toph's arm. He coughed and gagged, expelling water in each hack. Finally, he was breathing normally and slowly sat up. Toph starred at him and the only noise in the whole cavern was Iggy's breathing. Finally, he lifted his hand hesitantly and reached for Toph's arm. A second after he did, he pulled her towards him embraced her hard. They hugged for what seemed like hours. "Thanks," Iggy said, once they broke away from each other.

"It's okay," Toph said, "You were right before. I haven't known the perils of being blind for a while. I'm sorry I was so hard on you, I've been told I'm kind of hard on people." Iggy smiled slightly and hugged her again. "Do you want to go swimming? There's a large shallow patch over near the waterfalls."

Iggy laughed and nodded. "Sure. Let's go."

The Tale of Angel and Katara

Angel giggled uncontrollably as Katara shot water spout after water spout at her, knocking her back into the stream. Katara laughed too. Finally, instead of shooting it at her Katara shot it into her pouch. "Ah, come on!" Angel yelled laughing. "It's fun!"

Katara smiled but shook her head, bending more water into her pouch. "I don't want to be here all day."

"Why not? So you can go back to Fang," Angel teased in a sing song voice.

Katara's mouth dropped in shock. "What! That's…that's crazy."

Angel rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you're practically drooling over him." Katara tried to make a retort but Angel just smiled. "It's not that hard to notice, Fang sure has."

"Really?" Katara nearly shouted without thinking.

Angel couldn't help but laugh and nod. "No duh, why do you think he's so annoyed with you. All he does is glare at you. He's got it hard for Max. They've been in love for a long time. They just don't know it."

Katara sighed and leaned back against the warm rocks. "Look," Angel said, leaning back beside her. "I'm sorry, but you don't have a chance. Even if Max died…he'd probably kill himself. He loves her more than anything."

"Yah, but," Katara sighed, her fists clenching and unclenching. "Have you ever just…looked into his eyes? Even when they glare, they're so…" she trailed off, her eyes twinkling in happiness.

Angel rolled her eyes. "What's your story?" Katara asked, seeing Angel's skepticism.

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"You've been following me around ever since we got here."

"Well, it's just…Max was a great big sister before we were on the run all the time. Ever since I was able to control people's thoughts and she started to like Fang…she's been ignoring me. That or she'd look at me like I was freak." Katara stared at Angel, whose face was a mask of sadness and neglect. Katara pulled Angel into her arms and they hugged.

"Hey, I've always wanted a little sister." Katara whispered. They smiled and stared into the sun.

The Tale of Sokka and Gazzy

Sokka's feet slipped down the rocky path toward their explosion. Gazzy would no doubt be there already, making sure nothing caught on fire or something. He couldn't help but smile, glad he finally found someone who liked experimenting like he did. True, Gazzy was a little crazy sometimes but that didn't matter.

Sokka turned a corner to find Gazzy putting out a small fire around the clearing they'd found before. "How'd it go?" He asked, looking at the crater left by the bomb.

"Great! It probably went up hundred…hundred five feet. It was great!" Gazzy eyes were wild with excitement.

"Did you recover anything?" Sokka asked, kneeling down to look over the wreckage.

Gazzy shook his head. "Nope, everything was gone. Isn't that good though? If we drop on of these on anyone they're gone." Sokka looked up at him and thought for a second.

"Good point," he said, skeptically. "How would we drop this on though?"

Gazzy looked down and then sat down next to Sokka. "Did Zuko not tell you about the whitecoats and everything?" When Sokka shook his head, Gazzy explained.

Once he was done, Sokka didn't say anything. "Do you see why we need to bomb them?" Sokka continued his silence. "Do you?" Gazzy exclaimed.

Sokka nodded. "Yah, I guess so. They hurt you and kind of ruined your life."

"They mutated us!" Gazzy screamed, his words echoing off the rocks and mountains. Sokka pushed himself back on the rock he was sitting on and held his hands up defensively.

"I get it!" He insisted.

"Good," said Gazzy, putting the rest of the bombs materials into his backpack. A moment of awkward silence passed as the boys tried not to meet each other's eyes. Finally, Gazzy sat up straight, an excited gleam in his eyes. "Hey," he cried, pulling the materials back out of his bag. "Have you ever seen fireworks?"

"What?" Sokka asked, unaware of the concept.

"Oh, they're so cool. They're pretty much really colorful explosions that you shoot up into the air. They're a must on the Fourth of July but you can really do them any time."

"Cool, let's do them tonight," Sokka exclaimed. "Can you make them?" Gazzy thought about it for a moment and then shook his head.

"Probably not. At least not as good as people who have the right materials. We can buy them. I'll go and you can find some different places to set them off from. It's no fun if it all comes from one place." With that, Gazzy took a wallet from his bag (unable to remember who its previous owner was) and then took off, leaving Sokka to find good vantage points.

Around an hour and a half later, Sokka found Gazzy landing with three huge boxes in his arms. "Here we are!" He cried, tossing the parcels to Sokka. Inside the boxes at least a hundred different fireworks, ready to be lit and fired off. "Did you find any good places?"

"Oh, a ton! It's gonna be so awesome," Sokka cried, excited.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Gazzy said. "Let's do it!"

The Date…**I MEAN!**…Tale of Nudge and Aang

Nudge sighed as she beat her wings against the warm mountain air. _Why wasn't he following her, he'd been paying attention to her all day._ She rolled her eyes_. Why would you even think he likes you, you really are a freak. _Her eyes began to water and she tried to convince herself it was from her speed but it barely helped.

All of a sudden, she heard something behind her. She turned slightly and saw someone flying close behind. She rolled her eyes again and huffed in frustration. She began to speed up but was soon stopped by a figure flying beside her. Suddenly, she realized it was Aang. "Aang!" She nearly screamed.

"Hey," Aang said, blushing slightly, causing her to blush as well.

"What you doing here?" Nudge cried.

"I just…wanted to hang out," he said.

"Oh, okay," she said, her voice getting higher. As they continued to fly they passed over a small, lake side town.

"Are you hungry?" Aang asked. She nodded and he motioned to the town. "Wanna get an early dinner or something?"

"Sounds great," she exclaimed and they both swopped down to the town.

They found a small boardwalk and a few stores. They walked past an open air burger joint. They each got some food and sat down on the boardwalk railing to eat.

The next hour or so was spent talking and laughing. Nudge and Aangs' smiles didn't break all evening. The sun was setting quickly, sparkling on the water. As they both stared out at the water, Aang slowly pushed his hand closer and closer to Nudge's. She held her breathe as he continued to move.

However, before he could reach her hand, he shot up. "Do you want any ice cream?" He cried, obviously surprised at himself. Nudge sighed and nodded. "What flavor?" He asked.

"It doesn't matter, but I really like vanilla," she told him. He smiled and nodded, dashing over to the ice cream stand. When he was well out of ear shot, Nudge hopped down from the railing and leaned over the side. _He was about to hold your hand! _She thought, smiling. _Yah, but he didn't. Why are boys so hard to understand? _Peeking around to look at Aang she smiled. _Looks like it's all up to me. _

With that, Aang showed up with two vanilla ice cream cones. "Cheers," he said, handing me the cone.

"I've got a better idea," she said, not taking the cone. She then grabbed his hand, trying not to blush, and led him to the edge of the boardwalk. "Let's get a better view of the sunset," she told him and spread her wings. He dropped her hand reluctantly and brought out his glider.

"Let's go," he said smiling. With that, she took off and flew up the mountain. Finally, she found a beautiful little ledge looking over the caves and other mountains behind it.

"Is the ice cream…?" She began, turning around quickly, only to find Aang skidding across the ledge, ice cream cones wobbling in his hands. Before he could stop himself, he slammed full force into Nudge, sending ice cream all over her jacket and dripping onto her leggings below her skirt. They fell over each other, so Nudge lay on the ground, Aang sprawled on top of her.

"Oh my…I'm so…Nudge…I…" Aang stuttered, trying to wipe the ice cream from her face. However, all she could was laugh.

"Aang, it's fine," she told him, sitting up.

"At least let me fix it," he offered, pointing at her jacket.

"Nah, its fine," she told him, "just turn around for a second, please." Aang did as he was told and couldn't help but gasp when he turned back around. Nudge stood wearing a short black skirt and a low cut, tight, dark blue tank top with a design of a butterfly on it.

"Wow," he whispered, sighing. "You look…great." Nudge blushed but doubted Aang could see it in the darkening twilight.

"Thanks," she said. Silence followed his compliment. Eventually, Nudge walked forward and sat on the edge of the ledge, watching the moon sit on the horizon. Aang sat beside her and stared straight ahead, terror on his round face. He gulped and breathed slowly through his nose. Suddenly, without warning, he grabbed her hand.

She stared at him, surprised but not annoyed. She let him rest his hand on hers as they both leaned back on their arms. All of a sudden, a bright column of red light shot into the sky. Nudge nearly screamed, falling into Aangs arms. As the red firework exploded into the sky, Nudge relaxed but didn't move out of Aangs arms. "Wow," she said, smiling at the firework display lighting up the dark sky.

She then turned her head slightly, only finding her face inches from his. Her lips were so close to his, she couldn't help but blush, again. She was about to back up, but before she could Aang pulled her close and their lips finally touched. It was both of their first kisses and it felt amazing. Nudge moaned, pulling him close to her. He ran her hands around down her side, sighing.

He pulled her close, so she sat in his lap. He dropped his hand onto her bare thigh, kissing her softly. Suddenly, she broke apart, her hand on his chest her breathing heavy. "Aang, I love you," she gasped; smiling, relieved she could say it.

He blinked and his jaw dropped, surprised. "Nudge…I…" he began but Nudge stopped him.

"My real name's Monique, you know," she told him, whispering into his ear.

He laughed and kissed her. "Monique, I love you." Nudge stared at him.

"What about Katara, you told me you use to be crazy about her?" Her face was confused and hurt, but Aang ran his hands through her hair.

"She likes Fang, it's so obvious, and she'll never like me like that. You're the one for me and you're the one I love." Laughing with joy, she threw her arms around his neck and they kissed and kissed as Gazzy and Sokka's firework show flew through the sky. 


	8. Boy fight

When Max finally landed that night, we stood on a large cliff, overlooking a small town and a lake. Once Fang and I caught up with her, we couldn't help but stare at her and wait for her to pass out any second. However, she looked fine. In fact, she looked better than I ever saw her.

Her face shown with pride and she smiled from ear to ear. Her hair had come out of its braid had come out due to her quick take off, so her brown hair fell down her hair in waves. Her eyes twinkled as she stared over the town. "Wow," she finally said, placing her hands on her hips, "Katara did a better job than we thought." I gulped but didn't say anything. I needed to tell Max alone, not in Fangs presence.

Fang smiled and walked up behind her. "I'm so glad," he told her, hugging her. I looked down at my feet, kicking the dust. Max saw me and eventually broke away from the hug. We all stood awkwardly, looking down at the dust and up at the sky; anywhere but at each other.

All of sudden, bright columns of light shot into the sky. I gasped, backing up slightly as the light exploded into a star. "What the…" I yelled, staring up at the explosions.

"Calm down, country boy. It's just fireworks," Fang said, glaring at me. I glared back at him but he didn't notice. I stood next to Max and saw Fang scoot over so they were only centimeters from each other. He lifted his arm slightly, and was about to lower over onto her left shoulder. I stared, horror struck, wishing I could stop it.

Suddenly, Max said, "We better get back before anyone notices." She quickly turned and Fang quickly withdrew his hand. I smiled at him as Max turned to take off, once more. He shook his head and followed her. Very slowly he lifted his left hand and lifted his middle finger. My mouth fell open. I had been in this world long enough to know what this meant. I resisted my urge to punch him and took off quickly, flying in sync beside Max.

It was only a matter of minutes until we reached our hideout. Iggy and Toph were sitting next to each other, facing the fireworks and Katara was leaning against the rocks, braiding Angel's hair. Eventually, Sokka and Gazzy came hiking up the path. "I'm guessing this is your doing?" Max asked them smiling.

They laughed and high fived each other. I looked around. "Where's Nudge and Aang?" I asked. Max had noticed this too.

"I'm not sure," Katara answered, finishing Angel's hair. However, they both exchanged a glance and giggled. Max rolled her eyes.

"I think," she said, a sly look on her face. "They have had their own night…out." It only took a second for everyone to realize what she meant. Gazzy laughed and rolled his eyes. "So," Max continued, "Has anyone had dinner?" When no one had, she offered to go get it.

Fang and I exchanged a look. He was glaring but behind it was another message; an understanding one. "Max…" Fang began, placing his hand on her shoulder. However she shook it off.

"Fang…" she said in the same tone Fang had used, only over exaggerated. "Look at me, I'm fine!" She looked at everyone else, but they quickly looked away and put their attention on something else. She rolled her eyes and put her hands on Fang's shoulders. "Fang, please!" Her face was so sad and innocent; it took all my will power not to let her get dinner.

"I've got an idea!" I said without thinking. "Why don't you fly out and find Nudge and Aang. If you're okay after that, you can get dinner." Fang eyes widened behind Max's back and he glared at me even deeper than usual.

"I like it," Max said. I nodded, smiling at her smile. Then without a word of consent from anyone else, she grabbed some money, sprinted off the cliff and flew off. I smiled at her retreating figure.

All of sudden, I felt a hard fist connect with the side of my face. I gasped and staggered back. Fang stood in a fighting crouch, blowing on his knuckle, menacingly. "That. Felt. Good!" He hissed.

"Fang!" Angel cried, her eyes wide with surprise. However, he wasn't listening. He breathed slowly through his nose and sent a strong kick with his leg at my chest. This time I was ready. I dodged quickly. "Fang! Please!" Angel cried, rushing over.

"Angel, get back!" Fang told her and, after quickly backing up, he shot towards me, his wings out and everything. He grabbed the front of my shirt and sent me skidding toward the edge of the cliff. I tried to pull loose but his hold was too strong. Eventually, I dropped down the side of the cliff. A second of mortal terror shot through me, but I pushed my wings out, sending me shooting back towards Fang, who was waiting.

I sent a hard uppercut at his chin. He staggered but flew up to meet me in the air. I'd never fought in the air, save the Erasers attack. It was hard, but I caught on quickly. With each jab or punch, I had a fairly good retort. "What's your deal?" I eventually asked. He rolled his eyes.

"Please, like you wouldn't know!" He yelled, punching my chest hard. My breath left me in a huff. I dropped slightly but recovered quickly.

"Look, you like her. I understand." I tried to explain but he wouldn't hear it.

"NO!" He shouted. "If you understood, you'd stop freaking flirting with her!"

"I can like who ever I want!"

"Not her! She's too good for you!" This was as bad as a punch to the neck. I clenched my teeth.

"She likes me. I know it, and so do you," I told him. He paused slightly, and hesitated. A smiled crossed my lips because he knew I was right.

"She deserves someone who knows what it feels like. What it feels like to be hunted and to be an outsider." I scoffed at this. The whole time I was banished I couldn't help but feel like an outsider. True, I didn't show it, but you can't escape the feeling.

"I do know," I told him. "She could be with me."

"I love her!" Fang shouted with all his might. All of sudden, he shot behind me and grabbed my wings, close to my back. My back muscles clenched and tightened. Without hesitation he jerked his hands and it sent my wings into an awkward position. Unable to control myself, I screamed and began kicking and punching wherever I could hit. It was unbearable pain, feeling like he could pull my wings out of my body.

My foot eventually connected between his legs. Fang let out a squeak and finally let me go. I flew off, exhilarated to have freedom to my wings again. I looked back at Fang. He was doubled over slightly but still radiated hate. I was about to shoot toward him, ready for round two, when I saw two figures in the distance. "Fang!" I called, pointing at them.

Skeptical, he turned halfway but when he saw them, he dropped down the ledge. Everyone had gathered to watch our fight but didn't say a thing as we landed. Fang's landing was a little jerky but he still stood tall. Eventually the figures came into focus. "Aang," Katara called, as they both flew closer. Everyone let out a breath of relief as they landed. Max must've found them and left straight away to get dinner.

"Hey," Nudge said, her smile outshining any of the stars. "What's going on?" When no one answered, Gazzy spoke up.

"How was your date?" He said his true eight year old self showing.

Nudge began to deny it but dropped up at Aangs blushing smile. Katara giggled slightly and so did Angel.

"Did you guys have dinner?" Nudge said, desperately trying to change to subject.

"No," Fang told her. "Max is going to get it. Didn't she go after finding you?"

Nudge looked at Aang, confusion riding on both of their faces. "What?" He said.

Fear filled my chest. "Didn't Max find you and go to get dinner?" I asked, terrified.

"No," Nudge said, her eyes wide. "We just decided to come back."

We all looked at each other, horror on all of our faces. If they never saw Max and Max never reached them, where was Max? 


	9. The capture

My wings beat the warm currents as my grazed the canyon below me for any living thing. "Max, come on, where are you?" I muttered, terrified. I looked to the east and saw a figure flying a few hundred feet above me. I wasn't sure who it was, maybe Fang or Nudge, but I did know they were doing the same thing as I was.

It was nearly midnight. I could barely see my hands in front of me but I had to keep searching. Suddenly, I heard wings flapping behind me. I turned my head and saw Gazzy. "Zuko we have to call it a night. It's too dark, we're all tired."

I turned sharply and glared at him. "We have to find Max!" I nearly shouted, my hand flying out at him.

"Look, that's just what Fang told me!" He confessed, his eyes widening. I sighed and nodded.

"Fine," I muttered. I was tired myself, but I would never admit it.

All of sudden, we heard a yell from behind us. We turned and saw a figure, most likely a girl, falling through the sky. "Oh crap," I muttered and shot towards the girl. However, before I could reach her Appa flew under her and caught her.

I caught up with Appa and landed swiftly on the soft fur. "Who?" I asked, catching my breath.

"Nudge," Katara told me, leaning over her. Aang had landed as well and scurried over Appa's back to get to her.

"I'm sorry," Nudge said. Her voice shook and her eyes welled up with tears. "I was just so tired…I can keep going."

"No, no it's fine, you need to stop." Aang consoled her, hugging her and rubbing her shoulder softly.

"We need to call it a night," Iggy said, who was riding on Appa with Toph, Katara and Sokka. I nodded when suddenly, Fang landed on Appa as well. He landed slightly too close to me, causing me to pitch forward slightly.

"Now look what happened!" He shouted. "This is all your fault; getting us to search at night!"

"If you cared about her at all, you'd want to search all night and into the day." I shouted back.

"If you cared about anyone besides her we wouldn't have almost lost someone!"

"Look," Toph shouted over us, "No one can see anything so neither can Max. She's probably camping out somewhere. She's fine!" We all looked at her and finally relaxed.

"Fine," I said. "We'll head back." We collected Angel and we all flew back to the cave. It took seconds for everyone to fall asleep.

However, I couldn't help but sit, watching the moon cross the sky. I knew I wouldn't be able to see anything if I did take off so I remained there. I dozed off once for nearly an hour but woke up suddenly. Finally, when it was nearly dawn I stood and toke off. I hoped no one would follow and after a few minutes of just hearing my own wing beats I found no one did. I needed to tell her, to tell Max, how I thought about her. And I needed to do it alone.

I had probably been flying for an hour when I heard something.

I dipped down and saw a large truck exiting the canyon. Suspicious I flew along behind the truck. However, I was not expecting it to stop. When it did, I didn't have enough time to break, so I was sent crashing into the truck. I held my head as I slowly stood up.

Suddenly, two men came running out of the car. They grabbed my arms. I fought to stay awake but as my head throbbed and my nearly sleepless night caught up with me, I couldn't do much.

I was tied up with a thick chain. They then picked me up and threw me into the truck, my head hitting the wall hard. Unable to stop myself, I let go and fell into a dreamless sleep.

I woke maybe hours, maybe days later. I had no idea where I was and what had happened to me. I was definitely drugged. I felt something rough on my head and I lifted my hand to investigate but found I couldn't.

I shook my head (which only caused it to throb more) and my eyes finally cleared. I was lying on a smooth, flat table. My arms and legs were chained to it by my wrists and ankles. I was still wearing my clothes (thank God!) and I suspected something was stanching the bleeding from my forehead.

I gulped and breathed hard, stanching my own fear. However, it was too hard. I horrified gulp sounded from my throat. I then smelled something coming from above my head. Craning my neck I could just see a small glass sitting on a counter. From what I could smell, it was tea; jasmine with a hint of rosemary, maybe. My uncle would know for sure. Suddenly, the cup was lifted over my head and lowered onto my lips. The tea wasn't completely warm but it still was welcome to my dry throat.

Eventually, the cup left my lips and was placed back on the counter. A woman then stepped into my view. She was middle height with a nice figure. She wore a long white lab coat and under it she wore jeans and a pale purple shirt. Her brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail. She had light gray eyes and she smiled at me. "Specimen wakes at approximately thirteen hours," she muttered, writing it on clipboard.

I glared at her but she didn't meet my glance. "How are you feeling?" I was extremely confused.

"What?"

"How are you feeling, at the moment?" She asked again, waiting for my answer.

"Like crap?" I said, my voice making it sound like a question.

She mouthed the words as she wrote them down.

"Are you hungry or thirst?" She asked her eyes wide in apprehension.

"Yah, sure," I stuttered, confused still.

"What would you like?" She asked, peppy as ever.

"Umm," I thought for a second. "How about a Big Mac."

She stared at me and smiled. "Coming right up," she called, leaving the room.

I watched her go, craning my neck painfully. Finally, I hit my head back on the table and glared up at the ceiling.

Suddenly, a man strode into the room. "Wow," was all he said as he stared at me. Finally, he placed a hand on my stomach. My eyebrows fell together in more confusion and annoyance. After a second, he moved his hand to my face. I made to bite him but he didn't give me the pleasure. "You…you have emotions, you perfectly healthy and normal looking. You can…fly!" After stating the obvious, he stared at me.

"Is it true?" He asked suddenly, leaning down to look at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Fire! Can you actually…control it?"

I stared at him with such intensity; he didn't notice his coat tail catching on fire.

He gasped and pulled off his coat, stamping out the fire with his feet.

Once the flame had gone out, he looked at me and smiled. "You weren't created here. Do you even know where you were created?"

"Is this a thing of yours…stating the obvious facts? Is that your official title: Doctor Obvious?" I gasped as his hard hand slapped across my face. I gulped in breath, running my tongue over the cut on the inside of my cheek.

"Listen, smart aleck, if you don't cooperate, you'll wish a slap was all you got. We know you weren't created here, that's one of the reasons you are here. But what you will learn VERY quickly is we are very strict here. Any sarcasm will send you on a one way trip to someplace you don't wanna be. You got that, hot head?" He asked his face close to mine. I stiffly nodded, glaring at him.

"Now, where were you created?"

"I don't know, I-" But he raised his hand and I stopped.

"Where are Max and her flock?" I didn't answer. He stared at me and shook his head.

"You will regret this," he hissed.

A second later, he walked away. I saw the woman about to enter the room, a McDonald's bag in her hands. She tried to walk around him but he turned her around and closed the door. "Great," I muttered. I stared up at the ceiling desperately trying to figure out a plan. As I did, I must've dosed off.

I woke up to a sharp pain in my arm. I tried to sit up and hit my head as I did. "Ahh," I moaned and held my head. I stared down at my arm and found a deep red line on my wrist. The man was sitting next to me, a white hot poking stick in his hand. I glared at him and rubbed my wrist softly.

I looked around and found myself in a medium sized dog crate. "What the…?"

"Oh, you mean your new living arrangements?" The man asked, gesturing to the crate.

Once I had nodded, he only laughed. "Oh, it's only a precaution. You weren't willing to talk before so we figured we'd use some…leverage we obtained very recently."

All of a sudden, he nodded to a nearby assistant who pulled a cord and curtain fell to the ground. I gasped and grabbed the metal bars, melting them easily. However, I was still chained to metal beams so I stood helplessly, watching her.

Max lay on a bed similar to mine only rotating nearly vertical. Tubes and wires were attached to her arms, sending unknown liquids into her veins. I pulled against the chains, a sound similar to choking coming from the back of my throat. There were cuts all over her body and an especially horrible bloody gouge in her left thigh. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered. That's what I thought as I fell to my knees. It was over. Everything was over, because Max wasn't breathing.


	10. the kiss

I strained against the chains, desperate to break them. She couldn't be dead… she couldn't be. "Max! Max, cut it out. Please. You're not dead. Come on!" But she didn't answer. She didn't do anything. "Max…please." I begged, falling to my knees. But nothing happened.

The scientist didn't do anything. They simply stood and watched me; watched as I tore at the chains. A single tear fell down my cheek. Finally, they removed the chains and pulled me back into a new cage and rolled me away. I didn't fight them though. There wasn't anything to fight for, anymore. I was thrown, head first into the new cage.

I barely caught myself as my forehead slammed into the bars. Holding my forehead, which had now begun to bleed once more, I pulled my knees up to my chest. "Oh, Max," I whispered. I'm not sure how long I sat like that.

They placed a small amount of food in front of me but I didn't take it. I stared at it and didn't move. They pushed me toward it, trying to get me to eat, but I refused. "Fine," I heard the man tell the assistant who'd given me the food. "Take it away. Once he talks he'll eat." With that, they all left the room, giving me strange looks.

Finally, I ate. But I didn't tell them anything. At least nothing that they would believe. See, this is what happened. I slapped myself a few times (mentally) so I looked sane and I stood up. "Umm…Hello," I called out to the seemingly empty lab. "I give up…I'll talk, I'll talk!" I yelled, putting an edge of desperation and sadness in my voice.

Suddenly, the man appeared and strode toward me, his hands clasped behind his back. "I knew you'd give in eventually." I glared at him, but ever so slightly nodded my head. He chuckled. "What is it you want to tell us?"

I gulped and took a deep breath. "I was created far away, in a land called the Earth Kingdom. I don't know if that's what it's called to other people. But that's where I was…made. Well, I was born in a place called…"  
"Wait, wait, wait!" The man cried. He ran into the other room and when he came back, the girl who'd I'd met before was right behind him, her clipboard in hand. She quickly began writing as I recounted what I'd said.

"I was born in the Fire Nation but then was banished. I traveled to the Earth kingdom and was living in a city called Ba Sing Se. One day, I got really sick. The next thing I knew I had wings." I looked up and nearly smiled at the astonished faces around my cage. The man had his eyebrows raised and a slight smile on his face. I didn't mention the Avatar; if Aang does get kidnapped…too many things could go wrong.

"How did you get here then?" The man asked, folding his arms.

"It was…a portal of some kind." I said, hating how stupid it sounded. The scientist agreed with me.

"Sure, a portal. Perfectly believable."

"Look, I told you where I was created! Can you hand over some food?" I yelled, clenching the bars.

He stared at me but finally snapped his fingers and nodded toward me. An old McDonald's bag was thrown into my cage. I didn't touch it until they'd left the room.

Once I had, I found a nearly crushed cheeseburger and some old limp fries. Still, food was food. I ate the food quickly and lay on the hard floor. "What am I going to do?" I moaned, my arm hung over my face.

Before I knew it, I was fast asleep. I dreamed of Max. She and I were flying high over a desert like land. We held hands and she smiled at me. A second later, she pointed down to a tall canyon of caves. We swooped down a cave and I found families of hawks flying around the caves. "Wow," I whispered.

Max smiled and nodded. "Yah, the flock found this place a few years ago. Pretty cool huh?" I nodded. Max sat on the ground and I pulled myself around her. "Zuko, I need to tell you something." I nodded and turned so we were looking at each other. "Zuko, ever since you joined the flock, ever since I first saw you flying on the horizon, I knew there was something special about you. I knew we'd be…together."

"Are we together?" I couldn't help but ask. "Because I thought you and Fang were…"

"That was before I met you. I mean…Fang's great but…" she seemed at a loss for words. "You're better." She whispered moving her lips closer and closer. Finally, they touched. I moved my head to the side and moved my hand up her neck and ran through my fingers through her hair. Her hand lingered up my chest and then onto my face and scar. I sighed slightly as her fingers caressed the skin.

"Max," I whispered, pulling her closer to me. "You're dead. You're not actually here."

She shook her head. "Zuko…" All of sudden, she whipped her head back and screamed in horrible agony.

"Max! Max what is it?" I yelled, trying to hold her. However, she shook and jerked around, screaming and moaning. Her eyes rolled back into her skull and she raked her nails into my arm.

"Oh, God, please make it stop! Please, please, make it stop! Oh God, God, God!" Tears fell down her face and she rocked back and forth.

"Max! Max, please. What's wrong? Please, tell me. Talk to me Max. Max, Max!" However, she couldn't speak. All she did was scream and shake with sobs.

Suddenly, I sat up and found myself back in the cage. However, I could still see Max, screaming and crying. Her image was flashing in front of my eyes. I could still hear her screaming, her begging. I covered my ears and whipped away my own tears. "When will this stop?" I muttered. "Please." However, her screams didn't cease. "Get out of my head!"

That's what I realized. Her screams weren't in my head. I wasn't imagining her screams. They were in the lab. She was here. But I knew that, her dead body was here. But if she was screaming…I stood and leaned against the cage door. "Max! MAX!" I screamed, hitting the cage. "Let me out! Max! Don't you dare hurt her!" However, no one listened to me. No one came. I just listened to Max scream and scream far into the night. I eventually fell to the floor in pain and torment. I could almost feel myself going insane from hearing her scream, over and over. She begged for mercy but nothing happened. She kept screaming. I kept screaming. Finally, the screams contaminated my mind, leaving on the ground of my cell, the screams getting weaker and weaker…and weaker.

I felt something heavy hit my body and I woke with a start. "Ahh!" I gasped, sitting up. My vision was blurry, my head ached and my stomach growled. "What the…" I cried, massaging my temples. Then, I realized what was going on. I turned and found a figure lying on the floor. Her brown hair cascaded down her back and her smooth tan skin was covered in bruises and cuts. "Max," I whispered, my voice shaking. Her chest rose and fell but only slightly. I turned her over so she lay on her back.

"Hmm." She murmured, her eyes opening just slightly. "Zuko," she whispered.

"I'm so sorry. Can you talk?"

"Are you…kidding? I've been through much worse than…this," Max told me, her voice struggling over a whisper. She pushed up with her elbows and tried to sit up.

"No, no, no, no, no," I muttered, pushing her down softly onto the ground. "You need to rest. Tell me what hurts."

She looked herself over and felt her arms and legs. "I don't know. I just feel sore all over."

I bit my lip and held her hand. "What did they do? What did they do to you?"

She shook her head and stared off into space. "I'm not sure. I was strapped to a bed and they put something into my arm. It made me feel numb and weird. Like I've been flying for a long time. I felt exhausted but that's before they began to do things to me. They…they hit me and poked me with…with…" However before she could finish she broke down with sobs.

"Oh, Max," I muttered, placing a hand on her shoulder. She grabbed me for a second and pulled me close, wrapping her hands around me. I gasped but didn't push her away. I hugged her tightly.

Then, without saying anything, she suddenly pushed us to the ground together and began to kiss me. My eyes opened a mile wide while she pushed our lips together. Her eyes were open as well, surprise and confusion illuminated in there brown orbs.

She finally pushed me away and stared at me, accusation but guilt on her face. "I-I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that."

We stared at each other for a minute. All of sudden, we saw a scientist come into view. "This is good. Very good." He muttered, taking down notes. We looked up at him.

"What's good? What's very good?" Max asked. I stood up and glared at the scientist but he didn't say anything or even glance at us. Without a word he put his clipboard up under his arm and left the room.

Max and I continued to stare at each. At first all I could think was, if a scientist says something is good, it was very bad for us. Especially if he said that something was very good. That's what my first thought was but after a minute I couldn't help but delve deeper into my mind, into a shallow, self centered and more innocent part where all I could think was one thing: Max kissed you. She kissed you and didn't stop. And a part of you knew she liked it. She kissed you and she liked it. And you like it too.


	11. The Prison

Hey Everybody! I AM SOOO Sorry I haven't updated in forever! I've been so distracted with school starting and I've been gone all summer. Anyway, hope you like it! :)

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A funny thing happens when you are in a confined space for a long time. 1) You start thinking about things you never would've thought about under normal circumstances. 2) You have no secrets. You end up spilling all your inner thoughts to whoever's with you. In this case it was Max. I told her everything and she told me everything in return. We spent long nights lying on the floor of the cell, whispering our secrets. And finally 3) you forget all about the future. You except the last thing you'll ever see will the walls or the ceiling of your confined space. True, they fed us and gave us water but your mind goes to the last possible situation.

The scientists gave us food and water but they also watched us. Watched us endlessly. Even at night we were being monitored. Sometimes they would take us out of the cell, under high security of course, and questioned us in small windowless rooms. Really the only difference between our cell and the room was that the room had a table and three chairs. Max and I were questioned at different times, never together.

At first we tried to keep track of the days but it eventually became useless. At most I guessed we had been in prison for at least a week and a half.

One night (I assumed it was night) I was lying on my back on the cell floor, my head resting back on my arms. Max had been gone for what seemed like hours. I was beginning to worry. I'd eaten dinner alone. They had only brought enough food for one so I assumed they gave Max hers when she was being questioned. They had questioned me more than her, mostly to find out where I came from. They kept threatening to torture me but I knew they wouldn't do it. They didn't know how I would react to their tortures and they needed me alive.

Max had told me they had threatened her too but so far they hadn't actually hurt her. Finally, I heard footsteps from down the hall. I stood and wrapped my knuckles around the bars until they turned white. Max was being supported between two white coats. Tears were coursing down her cheeks and her body was shaking with sobs.

One of the men opened the cell and pushed me back against the wall, harder than necessary. I gasped as my back smacked against the wall. They tossed Max in after me and she was sent clattering to the floor. Once they were gone I knelt down beside her. She wrapped her knees up by her chest. "Max," I whispered, running a hand over her shoulder. "Max, what happened?" She didn't answer. She just kept crying.

Finally, she was able to control herself. Between sobs I was able to make out, "I'm…so…sorry…Zuko….I-I…told!"

"What? Max what did you say?" I asked, trying to get some understandable words out of her.

"I-I couldn't help it! They…they…I just did! I'm soo sorry." She collapsed into another fit of sobs, dropping her head onto my chest. I rubbed her head, kissing her hair.

"You told them where the others where?" I confirmed. She nodded, still crying. I stared at the wall. Something was pulling at the back of my head.

"Max," I finally said, pulling her into my lap. "What did they do to you to get that information? Did they torture you? What did they do?" She didn't answer but she stopped crying. "Max, please!" She didn't answer.

I eventually gave up and laid back on the ground. Max laid back next to me. It didn't take long for her to fall into a deep sleep. I waited around half an hour after she had fallen asleep and then sat up. After a time, the scientists left us alone and didn't take us out for questioning. I turned and looked over Max's arms. No marks and scars, at least none that weren't given the last time they'd hurt her.

I rolled up her pants but there weren't any new marks there either. "How did they get the information out of her?" I whispered to myself. She wouldn't talk unless they tortured her or…I gasped my eyes wide and my breathing increasing. I squeezed my hand around hers. She stirred but didn't wake up. I knew how they got her to talk. And it hurt my heart to even consider it.

Suddenly, Max rolled over and looked up at me. Once she saw my expression she sat up. "What's wrong? What are they doing?" She studied my face.

"Noth-" I began but knew I couldn't keep it from her. "They threatened you, didn't they Max? They threatened you." She stared into my eyes.

"They always do…but…" She tried to hide what had been said but it was impossible.

"What did they threaten you with? Please Max, tell me." I begged, holding her hands in mine.

"They threatened to…they wanted to…" She stuttered, unable to say it.

"It was me! They threatened to kill me, to torture me!" As I said this, more tears erupted from her eyes. However she nodded so I knew it was true. "Max, why did you do that? Why did you give up the information? I could've taken it!"

She shook her head. "No, no Zuko. It wasn't that…I didn't doubt…I couldn't let them do that! I just couldn't! Let them hurt you and know it's all my fault. It was worse than torture, the worse torture. They surrounded me, put the idea in my head, and forced me to think about it, to see it in full color inside my head. It was…horrible."

I felt color rising in my cheeks. She stared into my eyes, silent tears falling down her cheeks. "But…Max. You shouldn't have. I'm not worth it. Fang and Angel. Nudge and Iggy. You love them and knew them. You barely know me!" I was nearly yelling, enraged by how she'd given up their lives for me.

"But I love you!" She exclaimed and threw herself at me. I fell back on the ground, my elbows hitting the floor with a thud. Her legs sprawled around mine, her chest hitting mine hard. She through her arms around my neck and kissed me passionately. At first I was shocked. Her cheeks, still wet from tears, rubbed against mine. My eyes remained open, wide with confusion, but they finally closed and my arms came up around her. My inhibitions switched off, sending me into a train of mind of bliss and happiness. Nothing mattered in the world. Nothing mattered except me and Max, our two bodies together, kissing.

Finally we broke apart and simply stared at each other. Stared into each other's eyes and nothing else. "I love you," she whispered.

After a second I finally whispered back, "I love you, Max." She smiled and pulled me close.

"I'm glad you're having a good time," a voice suddenly exclaimed from outside the cell. I stood and pulled Max behind me. It was a white coat and he was smiling. I gasped and gripped Max's wrists behind my back.

"What the Hell do you want?" I exclaimed, anger rising in my chest.

"Oh, have you forgotten? I know love can be an odd thing, and cause weird things to happen in the head but…" he paused and looked over us, a sickly smile on his face. "We still have to get your friends…and your coming with us."


	12. NOT A CHAPTER! SORRY

Ok, I hate when authors do this too but I don't want to leave my wonderful readers in the dark.

Now, as most of you know, November starts on Tuesday. While November is a wonderful month (being born in it I would know) it also brings with it a task and endeavor, a journey if you will, for all writers. NaNoWriMo!

If you are not familiar with this literary mission...well, shame on you! It's so awesome! Look it up if you don't know about it. It's pretty cool. And I, for the first year ever, will commit to myself the task of writing a novel throughout the month of November. Yes, it sounds difficult and strenuous but I shall do it!

And with that task comes little distractions. Not that writing these fan fictions are distractions. There fun and love doing them. They keep me sane in these super long school years. However, I will not be able to make any revisions or updates until December. I know its long and I'm sorry.

I hope you're all still my loyal fans after this long process. I love you all! Thank you for the wonderful reviews and favorites! See you in a month!

Love,

Fanta


	13. The Return

My wings beat the air and caused me to zip through the sky. My speed caused tears to fly out of my eyes and by my ears. I gritted my teeth when I heard another sob from Max dart across the empty air between us. I knew tears were falling from her eyes as well but they would fall despite our flight.

I scanned the ground beneath us, watching dust float up into the crevices between the red cliffs and mountains. My wings beat the dusty, humid air with a gentle beat. _1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4._

I forced my mind to become contaminated with the beat, repeating it over and over again. I didn't think of anything else.

I knew it was a simple and stupid task but if it kept my mind off what we were being forced to do, it was worth it. We were being forced to lead the whitecoats- who were maybe a hundred feet under us following in a van- to where the flock was. If we led them anywhere else or went off course one of us would be tortured and the other would have to watch.

I turned slowly and darted over so our wing tips touched and I reached out to grab her hand. She was shaking, terrified and miserable from what she had to do. She was taking more of the blame then I was but I knew the flock would hate both of us.

A small part of me was hoping they had changed location and would be long gone by the time we reached the caves but I knew they would be there. They'd figure we would show up eventually. They didn't think we would tell the location. But we had.

Max squeezed my hand. "What are they going to do? What are they going to do when we find out what…what I did?" She cried.

"I don't know, I-I don't know," I said, feeling helpless and guilty. I turned back to the sky ahead of me and looked up, seeing endless blue above me, looking like a beautiful ocean. I wish it was an ocean. I wished I could be anywhere besides here.

Finally, I made out the caverns in the mountains. "Come on," I hissed and banked down to catapult myself down to where the boxy van was still following us. I stopped about a hundred yards in front of it, causing the driver to skid the van sideways across the dirty, unbeaten road.

One of the white coats jumped out of the car, anger emanating off his face and body. "What the hell are you doing kid? We could've hit you!"

I didn't say anything. "The cave's up there," I told him, looking back at Max. He looked taken aback by the straight answer.

"Alright. You will go up there and get them. I swear, if you all aren't down here within fifteen minutes…" He pulled out his gun and cocked it menacingly. "You'll regret it."

We nodded and spread out our wings. "Ready?" I asked.

Max didn't meet my eyes but sighed. She reached out her hand and intertwined her fingers in mine. "As I'll ever be," she finally said. And with that, we pushed off the ground and jumped into the air.

Dust exploded off the ground as our wings flapped in rhythmic beats. It took us a minute to get up to the cave and, as we flew up the side of the tall mountains, I wondered what we would find. Max and I had been gone for almost a week but would everyone stay here and wait for us? I wondered if they'd left and we didn't know where they were. What would happen then? I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes as we landed without a sound in the cave.

"They're gone," Max said, a sob crashing from her throat. "They're gone. Zuko, where'd they go?"

I shook my head. "I-I don't know."

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know!" I said, my angry words echoing off the walls of the cavern. "I don't know, Max! Why are you asking me? This is all your fault anyway!" I didn't mean for it to come out but it did. I wanted to take it back immediately but I couldn't.

Max's eyes turned to tears and she stepped away from me. She shook her head and retreated into the cave. "Max!" I yelled after her, but she didn't turn. "Max, damn it!" I clenched my fists and hit the wall in frustration.

Suddenly, I heard a muffled yell come from the dark cavern. "Zuko!" Without thinking, I dashed into the cave, my arms pumping at my side. I could barely see but I could tell it was getting bigger as I ran. I found myself in a dimly lit cavern, maybe twenty feet tall with a small river running along it. I looked around, sure Max was in here somewhere.

I had my back turned to the entrance I had just run through, when a dark figure swopped in to my side and sent me sprawling to the ground. Gasping for air, I hit the ground with a thud. Looking up, I found a boy standing over me. I couldn't make out his face. I heard muffled talking from across the room and slowly pushed myself up. The boy kicked my back, forcing me down onto the ground again. My lip hit the ground and started bleeding. "Fang!" I heard Max's voice cry out, shocked and pained.

I shot up and, seeing as my eyes were now adjusted to the dark cavern, I could make out Fang's dark features. He glared down at me but allowed me to sit up. "How dare you?" He growled down at me. I blinked, confused. "Katara, keep her over there!"

I looked over to see Katara maintaining a block of ice around Max, keeping her from running over to Fang and me. "What the hell are you doing?" I yelled at him, finally standing. I felt blood drip down my mouth and chin.

"You took her! You took her in the night!" Fang cried. "You left us without a clue. And now you've got the white coats running around here after us!"

"He didn't! Fang, he never did that!" Max screamed. "I was captured because I was being stupid! He was just trying to find me! He loves me!" I stared at her and her eyes bore into mine.

Fang turned and faced me; his eyes alight with fire and hatred. "Is that true!" I didn't answer, but stared at him defiantly. Without warning, Fang lashed out his leg and sent me flying back against the wall. I braced myself as he hit me, but still hit my head against the rock. Gasping in pain, I gripped my throbbing head and readied myself for another hit from Fang.

"And I love him!" Max continued, her scream echoing off the walls. "I love him, Fang!" He looked over at her, his eyes wide. He moved very slowly, his eyes dashing from me back to Max.

"I understand now," he said finally.

"Fang?" I heard Angel call. I looked over and saw the rest of the group huddled in the shadows, their eyes wide with fear and confusion.

"You brought them here…" he paused and looked over at me, his eyes portraying emptiness with a sparkle of recklessness. "You brought the whitecoats here so you and Max could run away together. You could run away together and have a life and never think about us, the people who you've known your whole life, ever again!"

He was yelling now, striding toward me with such angry force that I couldn't help but back in. "Calm down," I told him, holding up my hands in surrender. "That's not it, Fang. Calm down!"

He grabbed me by my shoulders and pushed me against the wall. I was unable to move, even though we had been an even match in our fight before. I grunted and turned my head, looking at him from the corner of my eye. He was staring at me with such hatred and insanity that I almost felt guilty.

"FANG!" Max screamed. Suddenly, I saw her body begin to shake and her eyes scrunched up in pain.

"Fang!" I muttered, looking at him. Max's fists were clenched and I could see something was very, very wrong. "Fang!" I yelled, finally able to push him away. I sprinted across the cave and grabbed Katara by her arm. "Let her go!" She looked over at Fang, who nodded. She retracted the water from Max and let it splash back into her pouch.

Max fell to the ground, spasms running through her body. She was crying and moaning, like her body was revolting against her. "Stop, please," she begged quietly to no one. Pain contorted her face and I knelt down beside her, terror running through my body and making me feel useless.

"Max, what's wrong? Please, talk to me!" I said, pushing her hair back from her slick, wet forehead.

"This is all your fault!" Fang cried, leaning over me. I turned and saw Angel bury her head into Gazzy's shoulder, her face a mask of fear and sadness. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted you since the moment you came flying into our lives!"

"Will you stop thinking about yourself for one minute!" I stood up and yelled, pushing him away from me. "If you were smart you'd see that Max is in pain right now! If you really loved her, like you claim you do, you'd see that!" I could tell he understood but I didn't back down. "Yes, maybe you were right about me! But if it wasn't for me, Max would be dead right now! I brought Katara here and she healed Max! But if you don't let me actually see to Max and stop whining about how horrible I am, that might all be a waste!"

Without waiting for a reaction, I knelt back down to Max and pulled her into my arms. She still shook but it was less now. I wasn't sure if this was good or bad but when I pulled her into my arms, I my hand ran by her chest and I realized her heartbeat was getting weaker and weaker.

"I need to get her down there!" I said, getting an idea. "The white coats are controlling Max somehow. They're hurting her…they hurt her when those wolf things attacked…it wasn't the physical damage. The scientists were hurting her and it wasn't Katara who healed her." I looked at all of them to see if they were following. "Max has something implanted in her…something that's allowing the white coats to hurt her when they want to."

"I've got an idea!" Aang suddenly said. "Follow me!" With that, he shot down the corridor toward the entrance to the cave. After a second of hesitation, I held Max closer and sprinted behind him. I heard Fang restrain Nudge as she tried to run after him.

I caught up with Aang at the mouth of the cave. "Pretend I'm a bird kid. I'll fly down there. They'll assume I have wings and hopefully stop hurting Max." She stirred a little at her name. "I'll take it from there, once she's okay."

I nodded and dove off the cliff, my wings snapping out and slowing my jaw dropping descent. Max groaned again and shushed her quietly. "It's okay," I whispered. "It'll be okay."

We reached the ground behind a large pillar of rock. Suddenly, Nudge landed next to us. "Nudge!" Aang cried, his eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

"They're going to ask to see your wings! When they do, let me spread mine so it looks like they're those." It was a good plan and I nodded. "Just blow up a lot of dust so they don't see me landing with you." We both nodded and took off from the shadow of the cliff.

We flew close to the ground, dust and dirt blowing up from our updraft and covering our skin. It also created a long trial of dust clouds following us. We stopped beside the truck, billowing clouds of dust flying around us. I knew Aang was helping it along but it looked believable that we'd created them ourselves.

The white coats stood out on the desert floor, guns in their hands. They seemed surprised by the dramatic appearance but didn't sway. "What took you so long?" The first one yelled at us.

"That doesn't matter!" I shouted back, trying to keep my voice even. "We're here now, aren't we? Now stop this! Stop hurting her!" My voice rose at the end and I gestured down at Max, pain in my words. "The rest will come when he gives the signal. Just do it!"

"You're an experiment?" One of the men asked, looking over at Aang. He nodded. These obviously weren't the first generation of scientists because they looked at each other and nodded. "Where are your wings?"

Nudge leaned against Aangs back and spread out her wings, extending them to their full length. The white coats stepped back but nodded at each other. A man near the front of the van walked around to the back and crawled into the trunk.

As soon as it had started, Max's eyes opened and the pain was gone. She blinked slightly and leaned up to my cheek. "What's happening?" She whispered, not showing any sign of surprise.

"Stay calm and play along," I whispered playfully. She smiled but looked back at the white coats.

"Where are the rest of them?" They shouted, cocking their guns threateningly.

I sat Max down on the ground and pretended to be tending to her. Suddenly, without warning, I sent huge flames shooting out, making a large circle around the white coats. They screamed but I didn't let the flames consume them (although I wanted to).

"Go!" I told Aang, Nudge and Max. "I'll follow you in a minute!"

"No you won't," Max stated, knowing me too well. "I'm staying with you." I stared at her but nodded at Nudge and Aang, waiting idly a few feet away.

They flew off back to the cave. I stared back at the flames, burning bright against the blue desert sky. "What are we going to do?" I asked, looking over at her.

"I don't know," she admitted.

The flames, without any fuel to fee them, died down slightly. I could see the white coats now, learned of the fact that the flames won't hurt them. "We'll stop hurting her!" One of them screamed over the roar of fire. My head snapped to the sound. I stared at the man who yelled it. He spoke again. "We'll stop hurting her if you give yourself up!"

Silence passed between us. "Zuko," Max finally whispered. "Zuko, don't even think about it!"

I stared at the fire, not really seeing it. I knew Max would never forgive me if I gave myself up but she would live. But if we ran off together…Max would die. It wasn't worth to have a little time together to see her suffer and leave me.

"We need to go," I said, moving my lips as little as possible. "We need to go, now."

"What?" Max said, not taking her eyes off of me.

I shot around and saw the flying figures getting closer. Turning back to the white coats I realized they knew what was coming. This was an ambush. I should've known; there was no way they could've fit us all in the back of the truck. They didn't mean to take us on by themselves. They had back up. Back up that was flying towards us at fifty miles an hour. Erasers.


End file.
